PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OP WASHINGTON. 19T 



to the exalted fame which made him the chief ornament of our 

 association, but in grateful tribute as well to the varied philo- 

 sophical learning, the calm, even-balanced judgment, and the 

 serene wisdom which so admirably qualified him to be the mode- 

 rator of opinions in a body composed of zealous and independent 

 workers in nearly every department of scientific research. 



Hesolved, That while we are called to sit in the shadow of a 

 great bereavement, which naturally casts its deepest gloom on 

 those who, like ourselves, were daily admitted to the privilege 

 of his personal friendship and to the precious opportunities 

 afforded by his sagacious and logical suggestions and wide eru- 

 dition, as well as by his ready co-operation in every enterprise 

 which had for its object the extension of knowledge or the pro- 

 motion of human welfare, we at the same time feel that we should 

 be culpably insensible to the surviving radiance of the bright 

 example he has set us if, even here, in the presence of his un- 

 filled grave, we did not testify and record our solemn thanks- 

 giving for the length of days accorded to our revered friend and 

 illustrious exemplar, permitted as he was to extend his useful 

 life beyond the period usually allotted to man, and not only fill- 

 ing that life with abundant labors, which have reflected the 

 highest honor on science, but also adorning it with the moral 

 virtues and Christian graces which made him as lovely for the 

 beauty and simplicity of his nature as he was remarkable for 

 the strength and dignity of his high and noble character. 



Resolved, That when we transfer our thoughts from the pre- 

 cincts of this Society, within which he has shed so long and so 

 graciously the mild light of his high and varied intelligence, to 

 that wider arena in which he moved as minister and interpreter 

 of nature, plucking out the heart of -her hidden mysteries ; as 

 teacher of ingenuous youth, quickening in their minds an ardent 

 love of knowledge ; as apostle of science, deeply imbued with 

 reverence for his holy calling ; as unselfish worker for the 

 Government, serving it even unto death in so many fields of use- 

 ful and unrewarded activity ; and, above all, when we refer to 

 his long and beneficent career as Director of the great institution 

 to which Smithson gave his name, but to which Henry has 

 given the distinctive direction and specific character which com- 

 pose the chief element of its glory in the past and constitute the 

 highest pledge of its usefulness in the future, we are filled with 



